Fresh is what they say it is

Coles and Woolworths risk consumer anger, writes Sarah Whyte.

Like millions of Australians, Martin Fisk thought he understood what fresh meant.

You can imagine his surprise when the father of two dropped into his local Coles supermarket to buy a ''fresh, baked in store'' Panini loaf, only to discover it was frozen inside.

Redefining the concept of 'fresh': Coles and Woolworths.Credit:Louie Douvis

''I was really annoyed. We put it in the microwave to try to get rid of the ice,'' Fisk says.

''On the little plastic clip around the package, it had 'baked today's date'.

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Imported from Kenya and Colombia: Freshly cut flowers.Credit:iStock

''How silly of me,'' he says. ''Clearly that doesn't count these days.''

Welcome to the hyper-coloured world of supermarkets where the meaning of ''fresh'' is not as simple as it sounds, and where products purported to be locally sourced or baked in store may have travelled 15,000 kilometres before they hit the shelves.

More than 32 million shoppers visit Coles and Woolworths every week, with 80¢ in every dollar spent on groceries shared between the companies in a cosy duopoly. And it's hard not to get sucked in.

As soon as you walk into a brightly lit supermarket, you are greeted by their addictive, saccharine-coated jingles, their heavy emphasis on cost-savings and an appearance of a ''buzzing marketplace'', complete with a bakery, butchery and fruit stalls.

''They are trying to create activity in the store that you would expect in specialty stores'' Peter McDonald, an adjunct lecturer at the University of Sydney business school, says.

''Even the whole aroma coming out of their baking section … stimulates the senses and takes the metallic processed feel away from the place.''

From the overuse of the word ''special'' (consumers will think the product must be good) to why the fruit and vegetables are positioned at the store's entrance (to present a healthy image), supermarkets are manipulating our senses, whether we like it or not.

But they are also guiding consumers up a not-so-fresh garden path full of misleading claims and confusing country-of-origin labels.

'Fresh' is used in many contexts as on our bread, flowers, fruit and milk products.

''The use of 'fresh' on genuine items that you expect to be fresh is being abused,'' McDonald says.

Fairfax Media has discovered ''freshly cut flowers'' in both Coles and Woolworths are being imported from Kenya and Colombia; French-grown citrus fruits sit under an ''Australian grown'' sign in Coles, and ''freshly baked bread'' actually comes from as far afield as Ireland, Germany and Denmark.

When Fisk complained to Coles on a social media site about his frozen ''fresh'' bread, their reply was eye-opening.

'''Fresh' is used in many contexts as on our bread, flowers, fruit and milk products,'' Rima Rustom, from Coles online customer service, wrote in an email. It describes products which ''retain their original quality, despite having been through additional processes, such as transportation or storage,'' she said, adding that the word ''fresh'' may also be used on products, ''which have been previously frozen''.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission does not agree with Coles' definition.

For the past four weeks, the ACCC has pursued Coles for its misleading ''fresh'' claims about bread.

The regulator took Coles to the Federal Court last month, saying its advertising and logos contained ''false, misleading and deceptive'' claims about its bakery products. On Monday, Coles was fined $61,000 for misleading its customers into thinking certain fruits and vegetables were produced on Australian farms, when they were grown in the US and France.

ACCC investigators found imported fruit, asparagus and almonds were displayed under price boards declaring ''Helping Australia Grow'', which also included the triangular ''Australian Grown'' symbol, between March and May this year.

Coles continues to ''vigorously defend'' both the court case and the infringements.

The semantic debate of what fresh means has attracted the attention of some high-profile consumers.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett complained to the ACCC last year about ''freshly baked'' Cuisine Royale bread he had bought, which was made in Ireland.

''I was surprised that importing bread in containers from the other side of the world was still profitable,'' he says, ''and what impact such importing would have on local manufacturers.

''I was then worried about the way the imported bread was promoted in store. Baked in store today,'' he says.

Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser has expressed outrage at the supermarket antics.

''Coles fined for 'Helping Australia Grow' with fruit from the US and France. Boycott!!!'' he tweeted this week..

Woolworths, which has 19.5 million customer transactions across 900 stores every week, has remained unscathed so far while the ACCC takes legal action against Coles.

A complaint was made to Fair Trading NSW regarding the freshness of the supermarket's Ciabatta bread after a customer was told it had not been baked on the same day, despite the advertising saying ''baked today, sold today''.

The general manager of fresh food at Woolworths, Pat McEntee, says ''fresh'' means when ''food is not being preserved, it's not over-manufactured so, in essence, it remains in its natural state''.

He says the main reason Woolworths imports fresh food is to bring in produce such as grapes, citrus fruits and speciality items when they are not in season in Australia.

McEntee says no ''freshly baked today'' bread is imported from international suppliers.

At a shoulder-rubbing retail luncheon at Sofitel Sydney Wentworth last month, the heads of both Coles and Woolworths - Ian McLeod and Tjeerd Jegen - told the packed room of retail executives there had never been such an abundance of choice for consumers.

Yet only two years ago, a Fairfax Media investigation found that the big two were intimidating suppliers, who said their demise was being hastened by bully-boy tactics from Coles and Woolworths.

Coles and Woolworths tap consumers for close to $1 billion each week and are two of the most profitable retailers in the world, Tom Godfrey, a spokesman for consumer watchdog Choice, says.

''Recently we have seen shonky claims such as 'Baked today, sold today' and 'Helping Australia grow' create the impression that products are fresh and made in Australia. Sadly for consumers that's not always the case,'' he says. ''When it comes to getting 'everyday value', it's very much a case of shopping around.''

But despite the marketing tricks and sensory illusions, consumers aren't as easily fooled as chains such as Coles and Woolworths would like us to believe, McDonald says.

They are most likely to overlook the questionable freshness claims for convenience and cheaper prices.